Episode discussion post: "Cardinal"

[jae]

Aired:
5 March 2014 in the U.S. and Canada
9 March 2014 in Israel
22 March 2014 in the UK

This is a discussion post for episode 202 of The Americans, intended for viewers who are watching the show on the U.S./Canadian schedule. (Feel free to dive in to the discussion if you're reading this later and have already seen subsequent episodes, but please take care to keep comments spoiler-free of anything that comes after season two, episode two.)

Original promo trailers

"Next On: Cardinal" (Watch on YouTube)

"The Americans: Exclusive Scene from Episode 2" (Watch on YouTube)

Episode recaps

From Vulture
From Hitfix
From The AV Club
From The Huffington Post
From IGN
From Think Progress
From SpoilerTV
From Zap2it
From Television Without Pity
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From Filmthrasher
From showratings.tv
From Newsmanone
From Screenrant
From the LA Times
From Geekbinge
From tvrage.com
From Unreality TV (UK)

Comments

[shapinglight]

I liked this episode better than the first one (though I liked that just fine). I find Nina a very interesting character. I'm slightly wondering whether she's thinking of becoming a triple agent now. Did the Rezident give her permission to tell Stan about the walk-in?

I keep missing stuff, unfortunately, as there are no subtitles. I also missed how Elizabeth knew to go and help the girl in the alley.

[treonb]

Nina is very interesting. I think she always works in her interest too.. so she was a double agent from the beginning :-)

Depends on how you watch the show, you can download subtitles online. If you need help, I can guide you through it.

[shapinglight]

Thanks for the offer. I'm hoping I can catch up with a broadcast transmission that will have subtitles so I should be okay.

Nina: double or triple?

[jae]

Nina actually is a triple agent already, though--isn't she? She was an agent to begin with, and then when Stan recruited her she was a double agent, and then when Arkady won her back, she became a triple agent. At least that's how I interpret it. :)

-J

Re: Nina: double or triple?

[treonb]

Yep, I was talking about when she started off.

Btw, according to wiki, there's a 'triple agent' and a 're-doubled agent'. I'm not sure which one's Nina.

Re: Nina: double or triple?

[jae]

Wow, I had no idea! Huh.

It sounds like she probably fits this definition: A re-doubled agent is an agent who gets caught as a double agent and is forced to mislead the foreign intelligence service.

-J

Re: Nina: double or triple?

[shapinglight]

This is true. I hadn't really thought of it that way.